Do I need an Anti-Virus?

I get some form of the title question posed to me fairly often.  Do I need an anti-virus?  Which security is the best to protect my computer?

I like to compare an anti-virus to a lock on your house.  Do you “need” one… technically no.. your house will function just as well without one, but it would probably be a good idea.  If you don’t want to give outsiders easy access to your house anytime they want in, then you install a lock on your doors and use it.  If you don’t want to allow malware on your computer anytime you come across it, then you install an anti-virus.  Does a lock guarantee that intruders won’t break into your house.. no, of course not and likewise, an anti-virus won’t give 100% protection against all malware.  Still, locks come in different qualities, so it may be worth getting a better one if you are concerned about security.

Here is another way in which this comparison holds true.  A lock is only good if you use it.  If someone knocks on your door and you decide to open the lock and allow them in, it’s not the fault of the lock when something bad happens.  An anti-virus can’t stop you from giving access to potentially dangerous applications or scripts.  If you are unsure of whether to allow an application to run on your computer, do some research or ask someone who knows.  Most anti-viruses will warn when they detect something bad but usually allow you to manually override and continue if you wish.  There are such things as false positives with detection but for the most part they get it right.

There are many many security programs that run the range from free to managed applications that incur a monthly or yearly fee.  Paying more doesn’t always mean you get better protection but generally paid products are better.  Windows 10 comes with Windows Defender as built-in security that will automatically activate if no other anti-virus is running on the computer.  It’s free and much better than nothing.   If you are a careful person and don’t frequent any dangerous places on the web you can probably get by using this for your protection.  Most other free products have the disadvantage of pop-ups and advertisements from the manufacturer that will try to upsell you on their premium edition.  Unless you enjoy being hassled by a sales pitch on a regular basis I’d avoid these.

This leaves us with paid products.  The current batch of anti-virus solutions have several worthy competitors.  These are ranked according to protection, performance, usability, and repair.  My current pick is the top rated Bitdefender which scores highly in independent AV reviews.  It’s detection rating at the beginning of 2018 is 100%.  Kaspersky also did well in the tests but I have avoided it since questions came up regarding data risks from the government.  Symantec was the third program which did well in detection but I find it slows down systems more than most and leaves too many settings for the user to monitor.